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CASE REPORT article

Front. Immunol.

Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1590714

This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Adverse Drug Reactions: Monitoring, Mechanism, Intervention, and ResolutionView all 8 articles

Sintilimab-induced intestinal obstruction and hemorrhage of the digestive tract: A case report

Provisionally accepted
Qian  HaoQian Hao1Wenwen  ZhuWenwen Zhu2Qingqing  GuoQingqing Guo3Xiuxiu  LuXiuxiu Lu1Shijun  ZhangShijun Zhang1Jianjun  YangJianjun Yang1Zhonghua  SongZhonghua Song1*
  • 1Shandong Provincial Third Hospital, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
  • 2Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
  • 3Peking University Healthcare Lu Zhong Hospital, Zibo, Shandong, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become an important part of malignant tumor therapy. However, some adverse reactions follow ICIs therapy. The incidence of immune-mediated colitis (IMC) has also increased. Here, the case of a 67-year-old male patient with stage IVB esophagogastric junction squamous cell carcinoma after chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy is presented. This patient underwent treatment with six courses of protein-bound paclitaxel + cis-platinum+ sintilimab, followed by maintenance therapy with sintilimab alone. The patient developed intestinal obstruction, abdominal pain, hemorrhage of the lower digestive tract and other discomfort and was diagnosed with multiple jejunal ulcers via colonoscopy and pathological biopsy. The aims of presenting this case report are to improve clinicians' understanding of and ability to treat sintilimab-related adverse reactions and to more scientifically and rationally administer sintilimab for the treatment of malignant tumors.

Keywords: sintilimab1, immune checkpoint inhibitor2, hemorrhage of the digestive tract3, intestinal obstruction4, immune-related adverse event5

Received: 10 Mar 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Hao, Zhu, Guo, Lu, Zhang, Yang and Song. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Zhonghua Song, Shandong Provincial Third Hospital, Jinan, Shandong Province, China

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